Need help/opinions with custom PC build

[Timeless88]

Hello all,

 

I recently discovered the awesomeness that is the LinusTechTips YouTube channel.  I have been binge watching a lot of their content for the past month or so that I've been subscribed.  I had seen a couple of Linus' videos over the years, but only subscribed recently as I started to do research into building my own custom PC.  I have a pretty good idea of what I'm gonna be going with, but I wanted some input from a community like this before I went ahead and finalized anything.  Let's start off with the parts list for your consideration.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/FF8Tm8

 

First, some quick background on me.  I am 28 years old, I have been interested in computers and gaming since I was very young and built my first computer at the age of 15.  I also recently (2 years ago) put together a computer for my little brother as a Christmas present.  I am not new to computers, but nor am I an expert.  I realize I may be over reaching my abilities with my goals for this build, but I'm pretty confident and any advice with any aspect would be greatly appreciated.

 

I am going to be primarily gaming, streaming, recording video, and doing some light image/video editing.  I also currently work as a web developer and may in the future be using this home computer for freelance work in that field as well.  As you can tell from the hard drives I'm a bit conflicted on what configuration I want to go with.  I plan on at least having one PCI-e SSD with one HDD for storage, but I'm not sure if its cost effective for what I'm doing to go with a large PCI-e SSD or a small one with a normal SATA SSD for the bulk of my stuff.  Also, would anyone recommend stepping down to the 6700k and z170 MOBO with the intention of purchasing a new Kaby Lake CPU down the road(assuming all z170 MOBOs can run Kaby Lake processors) to replace it?  In other words, do you think I'd get more value by saving money now and upgrading later versus spending the premium now and sticking with it longer?  Just something I've been wrestling with since I read about Kaby Lake.

 

What I am going for in my build is both performance and aesthetics, in about equal measure.  The parts list does not show the custom sleeved cables and magnetic LED strips I plan on getting for the case, but I am going for a totally custom look.  Right now I'm set on a white build with light blue and light purple accents with the same color LED lighting, meant as a Heroes of the Storm type of theme.  I'm trying to find as many parts as I can that fit the color scheme, but as it is a bit of an unusual one, I do plan on doing custom paint/plastidip on some white components.  My budget for this build is $2,000 or less.  As I mentioned already, any help, opinions, comments, and/or suggestions are much appreciated.

[NeoSk11zle]

2 minutes ago, Timeless88 said:

Hello all,

 

I recently discovered the awesomeness that is the LinusTechTips YouTube channel.  I have been binge watching a lot of their content for the past month or so that I've been subscribed.  I had seen a couple of Linus' videos over the years, but only subscribed recently as I started to do research into building my own custom PC.  I have a pretty good idea of what I'm gonna be going with, but I wanted some input from a community like this before I went ahead and finalized anything.  Let's start off with the parts list for your consideration.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/FF8Tm8

 

First, some quick background on me.  I am 28 years old, I have been interested in computers and gaming since I was very young and built my first computer at the age of 15.  I also recently (2 years ago) put together a computer for my little brother as a Christmas present.  I am not new to computers, but nor am I an expert.  I realize I may be over reaching my abilities with my goals for this build, but I'm pretty confident and any advice with any aspect would be greatly appreciated.

 

I am going to be primarily gaming, streaming, recording video, and doing some light image/video editing.  I also currently work as a web developer and may in the future be using this home computer for freelance work in that field as well.  As you can tell from the hard drives I'm a bit conflicted on what configuration I want to go with.  I plan on at least having one PCI-e SSD with one HDD for storage, but I'm not sure if its cost effective for what I'm doing to go with a large PCI-e SSD or a small one with a normal SATA SSD for the bulk of my stuff.  Also, would anyone recommend stepping down to the 6700k and z170 MOBO with the intention of purchasing a new Kaby Lake CPU down the road(assuming all z170 MOBOs can run Kaby Lake processors) to replace it?  In other words, do you think I'd get more value by saving money now and upgrading later versus spending the premium now and sticking with it longer?  Just something I've been wrestling with since I read about Kaby Lake.

 

What I am going for in my build is both performance and aesthetics, in about equal measure.  The parts list does not show the custom sleeved cables and magnetic LED strips I plan on getting for the case, but I am going for a totally custom look.  Right now I'm set on a white build with light blue and light purple accents with the same color LED lighting, meant as a Heroes of the Storm type of theme.  I'm trying to find as many parts as I can that fit the color scheme, but as it is a bit of an unusual one, I do plan on doing custom paint/plastidip on some white components.  My budget for this build is $2,000 or less.  As I mentioned already, any help, opinions, comments, and/or suggestions are much appreciated.

The 6700k is pretty good for gaming and content creation so I will personally step down unless you want to do more content creation, hard balance. As for the storage its a mess. What type of guy are you? a 2tb 4tb? it will help as one ssd and 1/2 hard drives.

[Electronics Wizardy]

For storage, id buy a single 2tb sata hdd. 

 

x99 cpu's probably won't see a update in a while, so I wouldn't worry about kaby lake.

 

 

You can probably get a 6700k and not notice a difference at all. You don't seem to need cpu that much, and a 6700k will definatly chew video nicely.

 

[Blackhole890]

5 minutes ago, Timeless88 said:

Hello all,

 

I recently discovered the awesomeness that is the LinusTechTips YouTube channel.  I have been binge watching a lot of their content for the past month or so that I've been subscribed.  I had seen a couple of Linus' videos over the years, but only subscribed recently as I started to do research into building my own custom PC.  I have a pretty good idea of what I'm gonna be going with, but I wanted some input from a community like this before I went ahead and finalized anything.  Let's start off with the parts list for your consideration.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/FF8Tm8

 

First, some quick background on me.  I am 28 years old, I have been interested in computers and gaming since I was very young and built my first computer at the age of 15.  I also recently (2 years ago) put together a computer for my little brother as a Christmas present.  I am not new to computers, but nor am I an expert.  I realize I may be over reaching my abilities with my goals for this build, but I'm pretty confident and any advice with any aspect would be greatly appreciated.

 

I am going to be primarily gaming, streaming, recording video, and doing some light image/video editing.  I also currently work as a web developer and may in the future be using this home computer for freelance work in that field as well.  As you can tell from the hard drives I'm a bit conflicted on what configuration I want to go with.  I plan on at least having one PCI-e SSD with one HDD for storage, but I'm not sure if its cost effective for what I'm doing to go with a large PCI-e SSD or a small one with a normal SATA SSD for the bulk of my stuff.  Also, would anyone recommend stepping down to the 6700k and z170 MOBO with the intention of purchasing a new Kaby Lake CPU down the road(assuming all z170 MOBOs can run Kaby Lake processors) to replace it?  In other words, do you think I'd get more value by saving money now and upgrading later versus spending the premium now and sticking with it longer?  Just something I've been wrestling with since I read about Kaby Lake.

 

What I am going for in my build is both performance and aesthetics, in about equal measure.  The parts list does not show the custom sleeved cables and magnetic LED strips I plan on getting for the case, but I am going for a totally custom look.  Right now I'm set on a white build with light blue and light purple accents with the same color LED lighting, meant as a Heroes of the Storm type of theme.  I'm trying to find as many parts as I can that fit the color scheme, but as it is a bit of an unusual one, I do plan on doing custom paint/plastidip on some white components.  My budget for this build is $2,000 or less.  As I mentioned already, any help, opinions, comments, and/or suggestions are much appreciated.

in my opinion, i would try to get a m.2 instead of pci-e ssd and try to get 16gb of ram and later on, if you see that you need more ram you can just upgrade. About the PSU, i would try at least get a platinium certificate and get a 6700k for gaming and the light video editing

[NeoSk11zle]

6 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

For storage, id buy a single 2tb sata hdd. 

 

x99 cpu's probably won't see a update in a while, so I wouldn't worry about kaby lake.

 

 

You can probably get a 6700k and not notice a difference at all. You don't seem to need cpu that much, and a 6700k will definatly chew video nicely.

 

ur kidding with the single hard drive, right? Daymmm

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, NeoSk11zle said:

ur kidding with the single hard drive, right? Daymmm

Nope. It costs the same and is about the same amount of storage.

[Electronics Wizardy]

7 minutes ago, Blackhole890 said:

i would try to get a m.2 instead of pci-e

m.2 is pcie.

 

7 minutes ago, Blackhole890 said:

get 16gb of ram and later on

Ram is cheap, and its easy to use over 16gb.

[Moress]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Nope. It costs the same and is about the same amount of storage.

I don't know what you're talking about but a HDD is not a good substitute for SSDs

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Moress said:

I don't know what you're talking about but a HDD is not a good substitute for SSDs

The 2tb ssd. https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-EVO-2-5-Inch-MZ-75E2T0B/dp/B010QD6W9I

[Moress]

4 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

The 2tb ssd. https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-EVO-2-5-Inch-MZ-75E2T0B/dp/B010QD6W9I

You said SATA HDD... 

 

Also you don't need a 80+ platinum. Just get a EVGA G2 series gold psu, they're some of the best PSUs on the market and they're in reasonable wattages too

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

The 2tb ssd. https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-EVO-2-5-Inch-MZ-75E2T0B/dp/B010QD6W9I

you got people confused because you said HDD further above while you meant SSD. mystery solved.

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

This would be my go at it:

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZX2FPs

 

- Faster LED illuminated RAM (pick your color). Think about 32GB though, 16GB tend to be more than enough for gaming and your work need as a web designer doesn't justify 32GB either, take your pick / give or take ~100$  here.

- Went with Z170 and 6700K, from what you described that will be enough, web programming ain't that processor hungry. And till games will utilice 6 (12HT) cores with DirectX12+ it will take a while. Simply can't see a benefit on the horizon where you would profit from 2 more cores.

- Went with an M2 SDD (allthough the 960 pro is around the corner so you might wanna wait for it) and it seems you need a storage drive so there is a WD black in it. The Blacks tend to run forever hassle free and come with 5 years (I think) warranty. Since you said something about working on the rig and seem to have a local storage need, "black" comes into mind pretty much instantly.

- The Asus board: because IO. There is no such thing as too much IO so there you go, pricy though but worth it

- Went with a whit R5 case, because, hell it's an awsome understater and looks damn good (my mind of course, feel free to ditch it). It got no basement like the case you selected got, but then again, with your components thats no need (maybe when going SLI and having trouble cooling, but you wont)

 

 

[Timeless88]

Thank you all for your input so far.  During my initial research, I was under the impression that PCI-e and M.2 were different connections and thus ran at slightly different speeds (pci-e being the faster of the two).  So thank you for the correction there.  Also in terms of the HDD storage, I am definitely more of a 2TB guy for now.  I don't need any more than that at the moment, and when I do I'll be able to easily add another drive so I'm not worried about that.  I like ItsTheDuckAgain's suggestion to go with the 950 pro and the HDD, but the 2TB instead of 4TB.

 

Regardless of whether I go with a 6800k or a 6700k, I'll probably stick with the 4x8 32gb of RAM simply because I do a lot of multi-tasking while playing video games and I tend to leave my computer on 24/7.  ItsTheDuckAgain did suggest going with faster RAM, but I've heard from multiple sources(including LTT) that RAM speed doesn't matter much except in specialized cases(APUs, servers, etc.) which don't apply to me.  Assuming this is true, I was just going to stick with RAM speed between 2133-2666 to keep the cost down a bit.

 

In terms of the CPU discussion.  I'm still a bit torn between the 6700k and the 6800k.  I feel like with DirectX12 and Vulkan being out now, and assuming more games down the line start utilizing them more, that more cores is more future-proof in regards to gaming.  Also, I forgot to mention and am not sure if this is any different than normal PC gaming, but I also plan on buying a VR system to run off this rig as well.

 

At this point, the only things I'm still looking for input on is the aesthetics of the build and for someone to convince be to go with either the 6700k or the 6800k.  Thanks again for everyone's help!